Yet Cloud's expression remained utterly calm.
"Time Law? Not bad."
"Then as a courtesy, let me show you the law I've just comprehended."
He slowly raised his hand.
No light, no darkness, no energy, no fluctuation.
Only a "concept" that transcended everything.
"Cosmic Power, First Law: Genesis."
He snapped his fingers at the collapsing "timeline."
The next second, the impossible happened!
That timeline meant to completely erase Cloud—stopped collapsing!
Then, in a bizarre manner, it began growing in reverse!
Countless new "possibilities," countless new "timeline branches" exploded forth from that "singularity" like the Big Bang!
If Saiki's "Time Law" represented "ending" and "erasure"—
Then Cloud's "Genesis" represented "beginning" and "creation"!
This was the ultimate collision of two diametrically opposed high-tier "Cosmic Laws"!
"No... impossible! How can you also possess Cosmic Power?!"
"Dark Ash" watched this absurd scene and roared in disbelief!
"Why wouldn't it be possible?" Cloud's figure appeared before him, one hand gently pressing on top of his head.
"Because while you were working so hard, devouring and possessing your way to max level..."
"I've long since... become this game's GM."
"Second Law: Reincarnation."
Cloud's voice fell like final judgment.
An irresistible force of "Reincarnation" instantly surged into "Dark Ash"!
"AAAAHHHH——!!!!!"
"Dark Ash" let out a piercing scream!
He could feel his soul being forcibly stripped from Ash's body by an incomprehensible power!
His newly-fused "divinity" was being forcibly decomposed, reorganized, reduced back to raw "time fragments"!
He was experiencing a reincarnation from "god" to "human," then from "human" to "nothingness"!
"I won't accept this... I am... the god of... the new world..."
Saiki's soul was utterly annihilated amid his unwilling roar.
Only Ash's powerless body remained, slowly falling from the sky.
But the battle wasn't over.
With Saiki's soul completely erased, an even more massive, more merciless "cosmic law" descended.
"Time Paradox"!
Because Saiki—the "cause" born in the "past"—had been forcibly erased by Cloud—the "effect" from the "present"—a massive, irreparable "logical gap" had appeared in this timeline.
And to "repair" this gap, the universe's "corrective force" would erase the person with the most direct blood relation to Saiki, the key figure who had caused this "paradox"—Ash Crimson!
"NO——!"
Elisabeth watched Ash's body grow increasingly transparent, as if being "erased" from this world like pencil marks, and let out a despairing cry!
She rushed forward to embrace him, but her hands passed right through Ash's ethereal form.
Ash was about to meet his end—the most tragic yet inevitable conclusion for an "undercover hero."
He looked at Elisabeth's tear-streaked face and smiled—a smile of peace and tenderness.
"Don't cry... Betty..."
"This way... is... fine..."
But in the second before he vanished completely—
A hand suddenly grasped his phantom shoulder.
It was Cloud.
"Listen, kid." Cloud looked at him, clicking his tongue. "I said be a hero, not a tragic hero."
"Thinking you can just disappear without explanation? Did you ask permission from this Supreme Commander?"
"Cosmic correction force? Time paradox?"
Cloud raised his head, looking at that invisible "Heavenly Dao" force trying to erase Ash, a smile of absolute arrogance spreading across his face.
"Playing with rules in front of me?"
"Sorry, but now I AM the rules!"
"Third Law: Existence Is Truth!"
Cloud roared, unleashing his newly-comprehended, still-rough "Time Power" without reservation!
He was going to clash head-on with the "Cosmic Laws"!
He would defy fate for Ash!
Using his unreasonable "Cosmic Power," he created a minuscule "time singularity" flickering with rainbow light!
This "singularity," like an impenetrable "safe," forcibly locked away Ash's last fragment of soul essence—the final spark about to be annihilated—just before his body fully dissipated!
BOOM——!!!
The entire universe seemed to let out an angry rumble at his "heaven-defying" act!
But Cloud succeeded.
The "time singularity" in his hand ultimately transformed into a crystal-clear, diamond-like "soul container." Within it, a tiny emerald flame flickered with stubborn life.
That was Ash—the final proof of his existence in this world.
"Here."
Cloud gently placed the "soul container" in the tearful Elisabeth's hands.
"As long as the soul remains, there's hope."
Elisabeth gripped the container that still held Cloud's warmth, feeling the weak but real soul presence within, sobbing uncontrollably.
She raised her head, looking at this god-like man before her, using all her strength to speak those words of gratitude.
"Thank... you..."
...
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